Weird cycles length and lp

Hi All

On our 3rd month of TTC.

Just abit of background i have 4 boys that were conceived relatively easy and quick (likely why they are all boys 😂) apart from being deficient in iron, ferritin (overall HB is good) and vitamin b12 and D all of which ive been using supplements and have had 2 courses of vitb12 injections over the last 3 months. Other than that pretty healthy, not a smoker and much of a drinker. On the overweight side yet rectifying this with diet and exercise as best as I can. Last DS was born in Feb this year and I am not bfeeding.

Ive been monitoring my cycles the last 4 months. Prior to having ds4 they were around the 28 day mark yet I have to admit i wasn't paying too much attention, just monitoring length. I don't chart yet started using opks in July. I count O day after the first positive opk and then dpo after that.

June- length 33 days

July- length 29 days. O cd17. LP- 12 days

August- length 24 days. O cd15. LP- 9 days

September- 33 days. O cd 21. LP- 12 days. i had spotting from 10dpo sometimes bright other times brown mainly on tp, once on underwear. I was using hpts from 8dpo. Started getting faint hpts on 11dpo (symptoms from 8-11dpo that stopped at 12dpo) hpts did darken at 12dpo and then nothing at 13dpo which i ended up classing as cd1 as spotting increased with cramps and flow.

Now with what happened with my last cycle im very worried there is an issue with either LP or low progesterone. I do have some of the symptoms associated with low prog.

My main concern i started spotting before i got a faint positive and im worried my body may have already been preparing for af yet a bean was also trying to stick.

At this point im seeing what this cycle does and if it doesn't result in a bfp im heading to the drs to get some bloods and take a month off. I hope they will do them despite our short time of ttc.

Just wondering if anyone else can offer any input or has had issues with LP or low prog. While i know these may not be an issue with me i just want to hear some feedback. We have only been ttc a short time so I know its early days and possibly my body is still trying to adjust after ds4. It just certainly makes for expensive fertility monitoring and planning for dtd 😂😂

Thanks for reading

Mum to 4 Boys awaiting her Princess

Edit: im 31 and dh is 33

Mum to 4 Boys awaiting her Princess

There is nothing wrong with those cycles at all and please do not worry about them. Firstly, your LP's are really not even that short (12 day LP, even with some spotting, is normal range, 9-10 day LP is not short enough to prevent pregnancy) secondly becuase you just had a baby in February and it is normal for them to be a little goofy when you are less than 12-18 months postpartum (even without breastfeeding)

Last month you had what is called a chemical pregnancy (I'm sorry!). It was almost certainly not because of short LP or low progesterone, it was because something had gone wrong with egg or sperm or the way the two joined and the pregnancy did not work out. When the egg "kissed" the side of your uterus, it made you have a positive pregnancy test but the fertilized egg did not send the right "signal" to your body, it realized that the pregnancy was not viable, and your progesterone dropped because of this because that is how your body ends a conception that is not working out.

I can all but guarantee you your doctor' office, unless you have a very accomodating doctor, will not be willing to help you TTC this soon after your previous conception, after only a few months of TTC, and is also going to tell you pretty much what I just did. :)

I know it sucks when there is nothing to do but wait for things to work themselves out but that's the best solution in this situation. Things are going to get better and better over the course of time as your body decides that "it's safe" to get pregnant again. Remember, having babies is a "biologically expensive" and risky thing to do and so unless it's really feeling ready, it may be harder to get pregnant until 12-18 months postpartum, cycles are irregular, and so on. Keep me posted on how it goes from here.

Thanks atomic. Thats pretty much where my thoughts are and i just hope my body regulates itself abit.

Is it normal to feel abit 'strange' after a chemical? Part of me still feels like i have sore bbs, nausea and my af appears to be shorter this time (may be due to spotting aswell)

Mum to 4 Boys awaiting her Princess

Yes, it can be normal - but have you taken a pregnancy test 14-16 DPO, to be absolutely sure you aren't pregnant?? You can have bleeding that is easily mistaken for AF in pregnancy (this actually happened to me) and assume you are not pg when you really are. YOu can have a positive test that appears to go away if your urine was more diluted and then comes back again.

I had take 2 yesterday still very faint positives. Had a beta hcg drawn yesterday and will know the results today. Hopefully its just everything happening slowly but naturally

Mum to 4 Boys awaiting her Princess

If you're still getting positive pregnancy tests you won't O till those go away.

I do want to let you know that I was pregnant once with twins and one didn't make it but the other stayed stuck. So there is still a small possibility that you are still pregnant and should operate under that possibility until you get the beta back or a negative test.

^^^ and I had bleeding that I mistook for AF. Hence my insistence that everyone test even if you are 110% sure you are not pregnant.

Thanks atomic. Beta hcg was negative. Ive started having O pains so i think my body might be gearing back up to normal. I sometimes get these a week before O and then they appear again when its O time.

Im still having some spotting though which puts me a 7 days of bleeding (4 of those are mainly spotting) should i expect it to be a little longer because of the chem preg?

Thanks

Mum to 4 Boys awaiting her Princess

Unfortunately there is no real way to know, some people do have longer cycles but others are spot on even with the chemical.

The good news is that lining grows from inside out so even if spotting your lining is growing at the same time and you can absolutely still get pregnant.

Thanks at least thats positive for the next cycle xx

Mum to 4 Boys awaiting her Princess

Is it still weird to feel abit off? This last cycle has really thrown me. Surely if i was indeed pg hpts would get darker and beta hcg would indicate so?



Mum to 4 Boys awaiting her Princess

Yes if you were pregnant then you'd def. have different beta numbers.

Let's try adding in iron 18-30 mg daily for the next 2 weeks and see if you feel better.

Thanks ill give that a try. I usually have low iron so it might be abit lower than normal plus im fighting a cold atm aswell

Mum to 4 Boys awaiting her Princess

Feel better soon!